Newsday letters to the editor for Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018

It’s a shame that op-ed writer James Coll felt compelled to attack an organization that chose not to support him for the Nassau County Legislature [“Stop the decline of the Nassau GOP,” Opinion, Feb. 8].

Coll’s take on the 2017 election as a “seismic” Republican loss is puzzling at best. In a year when some predicted a wipeout amid the drumbeat of news stories of alleged corruption on the part of a few individuals, our party retained majorities in the Nassau County Legislature and on the Hempstead Town Board. We won a clean sweep in the Town of Oyster Bay with victories in the races for supervisor, clerk and three council races. Our Hempstead Town supervisor candidate, Anthony Santino, lost by just 2 percentage points. Our county executive candidate, Jack Martins, lost by just 3 points. If this is what constitutes a seismic loss, we will take it.

Our party was proud to stand behind John Ferretti Jr., an attorney and lifelong Levittown resident, and my grand-nephew, for the 15th District seat. We are equally proud to serve the people by fighting for lower taxes, limited government and the suburban quality of life we all enjoy.

Since winning back the legislative majority in 2010, our party has held the line on property taxes and reduced the county workforce. Property values are near historic highs, crime rates at historic lows. Our system of organizing the party to serve the residents has worked quite well.

Joseph N. Mondello, Westbury

Editor’s note: The writer is chairman of the Nassau County Republican Committee.

Part-time officers could save money

In “Copping big pay raises” [News, Feb. 1], Newsday reported that a lieutenant in the Northport Village police department will earn more than $234,000 in the new budget. This is hardly a crime-ridden village.

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State-imposed mandatory arbitration laws have contributed to such unsustainable salaries, yet our state legislators are too beholden to powerful police unions to change the law.

For villages across the Island, however, there is a possible answer. A study by our Center for Cost Effective Government illustrates that millions of dollars could be saved by filling vacancies with part-time retired officers. These highly trained and experienced officers, though retired, are still in their 40s and early 50s and often look for part-time work, especially New York City retirees, whose pensions are much lower than those of their Long Island counterparts.

State law caps their salaries at $30,000 a year, until age 65, once they receive a pension. Two part-time officers costing $60,000 could do the same job as a $200,000 officer, without the need for health and pension contributions.

The solution is there, but is there the will to implement it?

Steve Levy,Bayport Editor’s note: The writer is executive director of the Center for Cost Effective Government, an advocacy organization, and was Suffolk County executive from 2004 to 2011.

Food supplements are a personal choice

The Feb. 8 news story “What many try to ward off the flu” considered the relative merits of vaccines and vitamin and mineral supplements to prevent the flu virus. It was thought-provoking, but I felt it promoted more confusion than it cleared up.

Dr. Aaron Glatt says he believes in evidence-based medicine. But can he or anyone cite a double-blind study that shows the value of this year’s flu vaccine? Obviously, he can’t. It’s new, and would require collecting and counting good and bad outcomes that don’t yet exist.

People take food supplements for a variety of reasons, including the hope that they will strengthen their natural immunity against many diseases, in addition to preventing the flu. Should adults not be allowed to make their own choices?

Robert M. Goldberg, Jericho

Perhaps Congress can work together again

I congratulate your editorial board on the excellence of the Feb. 8 editorial, “Before the parade passes Trump by.”

With lighthearted lyrics, the board highlighted the good, bad and ugly in our world. Newsday has pointed the ship of state toward the direction of hope and promise of a future of peace and goodwill. You have thrown down the gauntlet.

I hope our Congress will cease its dysfunctional behavior and act with bipartisan fervor to accept Newsday’s challenges.

John Wolf, Levittown

Some new technology is worth keeping

Regarding the letter “Bring back cars with window cranks” [Just Sayin’, Feb. 10], I agree that the more technically advanced our society becomes, the more difficult many things become for older people.

I’m 91, and I have a 10-year-old Buick that I love because it does have automatic windows, doors, trunk opener, lights and a CD player. It’s wonderful, and I would never go back to the old methods.

However, I do try and stay away from anything too complicated. I don’t want GPS or Bluetooth, and I wouldn’t part with my landline phone, but some other of the newer things are fantastic.